Spanish surrealist painter, Salvador Dali is pictured in New York. Dali’s eccentric artistic and personal history took yet another bizarre turn Thursday, July 20, 2017, with the exhumation of his embalmed remains in order to find genetic samples that could settle whether one of the founding figures of surrealism fathered a girl decades ago. (AP Photo, File)
Workers bring a casket to the Dali Theater Museum in Figueres, Spain, Thursday, July 20, 2017. Salvador Dali’s eccentric artistic and personal history took yet another bizarre turn Thursday with the exhumation of his embalmed remains in order to find genetic samples that could settle whether one of the founding figures of surrealism fathered a daughter decades ago. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Pilar Abel, poses for a photograph after a news conference in Madrid, where she claimed to be the daughter of eccentric artist Salvador Dali. 61-year old tarot card reader, Abel claims that her mother had an affair with Salvador Dali while working as a domestic helper in the northeastern Spanish town of Figueres, where the artist was born and lived with his Russian wife Gala. After two decades of court battles, a Madrid judge granted Abel a DNA test to find out whether her allegations are true, and the exhumation is scheduled to begin Thursday night. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Officials in Spain say that hair, nails and two long bones have been removed from Salvador Dali’s embalmed remains to find genetic samples for a paternity test — a move that could open a battle for the artist’s estate.
Pilar reader, claims her mother had an affair with the surrealist artist in the northeastern Spanish town of Figueres, where the painter was born in 1904 Abel, a 61-year-old tarot card and interred 84 years later.
A judge in Madrid ruled in June that only a DNA test could settle the lawsuit.
Representatives of the foundation managing Dali’s estate said Friday the evidence backing Abel’s claims weren’t enough to justify the intrusive exhumation, and that it will continue a legal battle to nullify the paternity test.
